Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey has slammed Peter Beattie as indulgent after the former Queensland premier claimed Labor can't win the election if he doesn't win the seat of Forde.
Mr Beattie says the race for the southern Brisbane seat will be a "litmus test" for the entire election.
It will be impossible for the ALP to retain power if Mr Beattie can't beat Liberal National Party incumbent Bert van Manen, he says.
"We don't win Forde, we don't win government," Mr Beattie told reporters on Wednesday.
"That's why I'm saying to the people of Forde, if you want to have clout in Canberra, clout in Brisbane, I'm offering myself to make that difference."
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Mr Hockey, who toured a Beenleigh metal-works factory with Mr van Manen on Wednesday labelled Mr Beattie the "ultimate blow-in" and an "itinerant" who didn't understand the realities of living in Forde.
Mr Beattie has moved into his brother's house at Cornubia in the northern end of the Forde electorate and has promised to move to the region permanently if elected.
With the slogan "Bert will beat Beattie", Mr Hockey claimed Mr Beattie's comments highlighted a focus within the ALP on merely retaining power rather than serving the public.
"That's the ultimate indulgence isn't it? He's coming out with these big statements about his job, his destiny," he said.
"The Labor party's got to stop talking about itself and start talking about the community.
"Putting the jobs of the community before their own jobs."
